According to popular belief, once a year - on the night of Ivan Kupala. Then, in a clearing among the dense forest blossoms Perunov Ognetsvet. Stretched in the middle of pinnate leaves, like a glowing ember, flower bud appears. Increases this miracle right before our eyes, and at midnight with a bang disclosed, wondrous light illuminating the entire clearing and thunder shaking the air and land. A man who had mastered this flower, become subject to all the secret knowledge of magic and available all the hidden treasures in the earth. True, it can get is not for everyone. After all, few find a wonderful flower in the forest thicket, we must also overcome the fear of evil spirits, gathered on the lawn. And God forbid a man scared, but look at the faces of demons - an instant tear his evil forest. Such is the legend.

In fact, the fern will not flower ever. Belonging to the cryptogams (this group includes club-mosses, horsetails, mosses and other plants), ferns reproduce spores located on the reverse side of the leaves.

Still beautiful ancient legend is under a certain reason. In nature there are two very rare species of fern - uzhovnik and moonwort that emit something like a paintbrush flowers. This, of course, not flowers, but only part of the extended sheet with a sort of "bud" - sporangia, which are open in dry weather.

14.03.2007